The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards for the year 2024 were announced on Saturday, recognising excellence across feature films, non-feature films and writing on cinema. Article 370 emerged as the biggest winner, bagging the Best Feature Film award, while Yami Gautam was honoured with the Best Actress award for her performance in the film.
The awards were announced by Feature Film Jury Chairperson Jayaraj, Non-Feature Film Jury Chairperson Aseem Sinha and Best Writing on Cinema Jury Chairperson A. Chandrasekhar in the presence of Joint Secretary (Films) Dr. Ajay Nagabhushan M.N. and Principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau Dhirendra Ojha.
Article 370, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale and produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios, won the prestigious Best Feature Film award. Besides the top honour, the film also secured the Best Actress award for Yami Gautam and the Best Music Direction (Songs) award for composer Shashwat Sachdev.
The Best Actor award was shared by Mammootty for his acclaimed performance in the Malayalam film Bramayugam and Kartik Aaryan for the Hindi sports drama Chandu Champion. Mammootty’s film also earned the Best Cinematography award for Shehnad Jalal.
Randeep Hooda made a successful directorial debut as Swatantrya Veer Savarkar won the Best Debut Film of a Director award. The film also received recognition in the screenplay category, with Yogesh Deshpande winning for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Director Rajkumar Periasamy won the Best Direction award for the Tamil biographical war drama Amaran, which also received the Best Editing award for R. Kalaivannan and the Best Background Music award for G.V. Prakash Kumar.
Nag Ashwin’s science-fiction epic Kalki 2898 AD was named Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The blockbuster also won the Best Production Design award for Nitin Zihani Choudhary.
The Best Feature Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental Values award went to the Tamil film Captain Miller, while its lead actor Dhanush received a Special Mention. The Telugu children’s film 35 – Chinna Katha Kaadu was adjudged Best Children’s Film.
Sanjay Mishra was honoured as Best Supporting Actor for Bhakshak, while Sachana Namidass for Maharaja and Ropashree Varkady for Mithya shared the Best Supporting Actress award. The Best Child Artist honour was jointly awarded to Athish S. Shetty (Mithya), Arundev Pothula (35 – Chinna Katha Kaadu), and Riddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb and Gitashree Chakraborty for the Bengali film Onko Ki Kothin.
Several blockbuster films also figured prominently among the winners. Pushpa: The Rule Part-02 won the Best Original Screenplay award for Sukumar and the Best Costume Design award for Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 received the Best Sound Design award, Stree 2 won Best Choreography for the chartbuster “Aaj Ki Raat”, Maharaja secured the Best Action Direction award, while Maidaan won Best Lyrics for Manoj Muntashir’s song “Jaane Do”.
Among language-specific honours, Srikanth was named Best Hindi Film, Raayan won Best Tamil Film, Committee Kurrollu was declared Best Telugu Film, Feminichi Fathima won Best Malayalam Film, Mithya received the Best Kannada Film award, Mukkam Post Bombilwadi won Best Marathi Film, Chalchitra Ekhon was adjudged Best Bengali Film, Lahari received the Best Odia Film award and Juiphool was honoured as Best Assamese Film.
In the non-feature category, Bhangaar, directed by Sumira Roy, won the Best Non-Feature Film award, while Ram-Nami, directed by Bharatbala Ganapathy, was named Best Documentary. Angen won the Best Debut Film of a Director award, and filmmaker Aanand L. Rai received the Best Direction award for the documentary Statue of Unity – Ekta ka Prateek.
Other notable non-feature winners included Kakori for Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction Film, Main Nida for Best Arts and Culture Film, Piplantri: A Tale of Eco Feminism for promoting social and environmental values, Touched as Water as Best Animation Film, and Hamsafar as Best Short Film.
In the Best Writing on Cinema category, Kannada author Kenchanuru Pradeep Kumar Shetty won the Best Book on Cinema award for Naaniruvude Nimagaagi Naadiruvude Nanagaagi: Kannada Cinemada Thathva matthu Rajakeeya, while Hindi critic Sanjeev Shrivastava was honoured as the Best Film Critic.
